Welcome to Sleeper Picks. Sleeper’s newest offering promised plenty of entertainment and action, and they delivered. We will break down our top three picks for tonight’s NBA action. Sleeper is quickly becoming one of the most popular season-long fantasy platforms, and they are expanding into other areas based on demand. Each week in this space, we’ll talk about some strategy for the new platform while providing our favorite NBA more/less picks.
NBA Sleeper Picks Player Predictions (1/9)
Donovan Mitchell (G – CLE): 3.5 assists (alt line)
Donovan has regressed to the mean as a distributor lately but is still doing enough to click on his alt line nightly. We all knew Donovan would be looking for his shot more last night in the battle against the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Mitchell still managed the four assists despite a putrid shooting night from the field. Donovan should bounce back as both a distributor and scorer if he laces it up tonight as the Cavs get to face off against a middling Toronto Raptors team that has already started making its draft lottery reservations. There is some gamescript concern here, as the Cavs could easily blow out the Raptors and rest their stars down the stretch in the second half of a back-to-back. With that being said, Donovan has recorded four or more assists in each of his last 15 games played. Dap the More on Donovan for Thursday night at Sleeper Picks.
Pick: More
Cade Cunningham (G – DET): 19.5 points (alt line)
Want to snap Cade Cunningham back out of the peaks and valleys game he has shown over his last six contests? Face him off against Steph Curry. Cade should be all the way up for tonight’s battle of the heavyweights. Two of the best combo guards in the league will go head to head, and with the Warriors having their own issues this season, Cade should not see his night shortened in a blowout. Cade has scored 32 or more in two of his last three games but has registered 19 or fewer points in four of his last six. The Cade play today, as mentioned, is all about the opponent and intrinsic motivation to show out against one of the best to do it. Golden State has surrendered 21.42 points per game to the point guard position, which is actually one of the better marks in the league but still leaves us room to work with as far as this alt line is concerned. Clap the More on Cade for Thursday night basketball.
Pick: More
Amen Thompson (G/F – HOU): 7.5 rebounds (alt line)
Amen Thompson is averaging 15.5 rebounds per game since returning from suspension, which also coincidentally coincides with the injury to starter Jabari Smith (hand). Amen has started seven games in total this season and has impressed with 18.0 points, 11.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.7 steals, and 2.0 blocks per game. Memphis is in the bottom 10 in total rebounds allowed per game. Tap the More on Thompson for Thursday night’s NBA action.
Pick: More
Writers note: The lines are constantly changing on Sleeper (and sometimes expiring), so there is a high probability that one or all of the numbers may no longer be the same when you open your app. There are excellent values when they are first posted, with the only catch being that they are not all released at the same time. Vigilance could provide a solid return on investment this season, literally.
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Raju Byfield is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Raju, check out his profile and follow him @FantasyContext.